Preparedness for when

mardatha

I used to be seriously into herbs, I love them. Forgot a lot but I still have the books.
Re fleecy blankets - can I be a right pain in the a$$ and point out that in a powercut with no heating they are practically useless? You need wool for warmth. Or cashmere or alpaca. It's well worth the money.

[Deleted User]

What you really need is a Lurcha, they're very warm when cuddled although prone to licking, which under some circumstances is not entirely unpleasant, but is always damp!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

fuddle

What do you mean Mar? The only blankets I have are fleece. You saying I have to succum to wool p*rn and crochet my family real wool blankets... Go on, tell me so

Seriously though, how are fleecey blankets pants in a crisis?

herbily

Hyssop reminds me of a blog I read, the author mentioned hyssop-flavoured ice cream with raspberries:

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/12702/september-in-the-garden-time-to-harvest-and-preserve

I've just ordered the author (Susan Belsinger)'s book on cooking with flowers - quite old now, so available on Amazon for 1p plus postage. By a neat coincidence, I had a gift card with a balance of precisely 2.81! When I get it, I can let you know if it's any good.

GreyQueen

fuddle wrote: »

I wish I didn't come visit this morning :rotfl:

I'm tougher these days but keep myself ignorant to what if's etc. I wish I could read the books you discuss because it really is up my street but er... I'm worry wort who won't even read crime novels in case I'm upset

What happened with the oil in the 1970's? Showing my feeble years now aren't I. Born in '79.

I'm definitely a 'bug in' person. If I'm going to go in extreme circumstances I'd rather it be in my home. Unless there's a tempory life saving situation where by flood or fire etc - I'd evacuate but major scary stuff that we're likely to not survive anyway... home please

Ahh, 7ww beat me to it.

westcoastscot wrote: »

Fuddle, try and not worry - continue prepping as you are. If things get as bad as they did in the 70's - leccy going off each evening, mass strikes etc then you'll cope at least as well if not better than your peers, and if it ever gets worse than that then it won't really matter for a lot of us! It will be down to survival of the fittest, which isn't me or many of us.

Edited to add: Fuddle I recall an interesting book, more "home front" than war-based, called When the Lights Went out: Britain in the Seventies, by Andy Beckett. About folks lived experience of the 70s and the political fabric of the world - really interesting!

More importantly it was 5 degrees last night - first frosts will be here soon I guess.

WCS

I've got that book sitting on the shelf awaiting my attention. I was around in the early 1970s but as a child so want to fill in some of the gaps, as it were.

I quite enjoyed the 1970s. We hadn't got a car and went everywhere on pushbikes or on the back of a small Honda motorbike. Had no c.h. at home, just a coal fire. I used to spilt the logs into kindling sticks and firelighting was my chore. We only had the fire lit when I came home after school, and about the same time on weekends. I guess it was because we couldn't afford the coal to keep it in all day.

We had an arrangement with a pine workshop near to the parental home to take sacks up there and collect wood from their offcuts pile. They were little bits of untreated pine, about 2-3 inches long in most cases and just a nuisance to the workshop but useful to us. Other than the living room fire, we sometimes had a paraffin stove on in the kitchen.

Used to go up to the paraffin dispensing machine in back of the garage a quarter of a mile away, with the can on a wee trolley. Esso Blue? Even that garage hasn't existed in 20+ years, it's a derelict plot.......... I enjoy central heating but I think it definately makes you soft.

Parents were affected by the 3 day week as the factories they worked in were running part-time. Mum says she enjoyed the 3 day week, apart from the reduced paypacket.

I can remember the powercuts best (big fun for us kiddies) and various shortages of specific goods such as sugar, bread and breadflour, t.p.

My Dad worked in a factory which produced a non-food product which used sucrose as part of its processing. Da Management twigged that sucrose is essentially sugar and suddenly ordered a stock-take, convinced that the staff might be pilfering it.

They were relieved to find more sucrose physically in stock than inventory showed, therefore no thievery could be taking place, right? I don't suppose it occured to them that with a manual inventory maintained by same staff, the records might just be being doctored as well as the sweet stuff going walkabout..........:rotfl:

Yesterday was 30 degrees and horribly, nauseatingly humid. Today is much cooler and it has been raining on and off all day, not heavily. Blissful. I was out in it getting my bare arms wet on purpose.

I was deeply envious of a mate of mine who scored a fabulous haul of Welsh wool blankets in a c.s. in Wales years ago. Immaculate and very very warm. We have some old army blankets at home, army surplus and older than I am. A good woollen blanket, kept protected from the moths, will last you a lifetime.

Righty, better see what pertains in the wider world. If you don't keep an eye on the beggars, they're sure to be up to no good.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

I was around in the early 1970s but as a child

Me too. I was 16 in 1977, and had just started my first job, when we had the power cuts.

I quite enjoyed the 1970s.

Me too.

We hadn't got a car and went everywhere on pushbikes or on the back of a small Honda motorbike.

I too had a pushbike, and my father had a 650 motorbike, with a double adult sidecar. I rode pillion, without a helmet!! :eek:

Had no c.h. at home, just a coal fire.

Same here, except for a small gas fire in the front bedroom.

Other than the living room fire, we sometimes had a paraffin stove on in the kitchen.

Yep. We also had a paraffin heater in the kitchen.

Used to go up to the paraffin dispensing machine in back of the garage a quarter of a mile away, with the can on a wee trolley.

We got ours from the "Paraffin Man", who had a big lorry (with a metal tank on the back) which pulled up in the street, a couple of times a week.

I can remember the powercuts best (big fun for us kiddies)

They were fun when we were kids.

Nowadays, they're just a PITA. :mad:

westcoastscot

Bob liking your spoons/measuring thingy - wish we had poundland type shops here!!

We have a fantastic sunset here - really beautiful and brooding.

[Deleted User]

westcoastscot wrote: »

We have a fantastic sunset here - really beautiful and brooding.

Don't keep us all in suspense.

Post a photo.

westcoastscot

aw I should have done - its dark now! If its as pretty tomorrow evening I will - sorry!!

mardatha

Fuddle, you would just have to get one and compare it with a fleecy acrylic one, then you'd see what I mean. Has to be wool though. Merino is non-itchy.